Notice:
I admit that the following text is long but I strongly urge that anyone who owns
a fife should read it all. It will be time well spent. Here is the abbreviated
version:

1. Wooden instruments are subject to shrinkage, cracking,
splitting, and loss of tone and playability, depending upon
care.

2. The risk can be reduced through the use of the proper oil,
wax and minimal additional precautions.

3. There is an incredible
amount of misinformation that has floated around for centuries. Ignore it!

4.
You can obtain all that you need right here. Scroll to the bottom. - Ed Boyle

Outside
of questions related to learning to play the fife, there is no area where I have
received more queries over the years than in fife maintenance. I have probably
heard most of the hocus-pokus that has gone on for a few centuries. I know individuals
who run cold water through their fife prior to performing. They say they are "wetting
their whistle." Because of the water and the sudden temperature change, I
cringe when I see them do it. I have heard of oiling the bore of a fife with a
variety of oils including but not limited to: almond oil, walnut oil, olive oil,
corn oil, and mineral oil. Some would make an excellent salad dressing! I have
seen beer poured into a fife to "wet the cork." The list goes on and
on. There was even a man who used cadmium oil, which is highly toxic, expecially
when one often centers the blowhole of the fife with one's tongue! Then, there
are various bore oils, most of which are no more than baby oil, with a few additives,
to provide scent and color (and sell for ridiculous prices). External surfaces
are often polished with various carnauba, paraffin and silicone based waxes or
with aerosol furniture polishes. Many contain petroleum distillates that can dry
out the wood, risking potential future splitting and cracking. A fife is not
a piece of furniture!

Without
going into needless detail, the tonal qualities of a musical instrument derive
from a number of acoustical properties: pitch or frequency, harmonics, modality,
and overtones. (This is why an "A" played on a trumpet sounds different
from an "A" played on a fife, a piano, or a violin.) These factors depend
upon physical geometry or shape, dimensions, the material the instrument is made
from and the density of that material. In a wooden instrument, all of these qualities
can change due to humidity, temperature, and exposure to water and other substances. Although
it does not produce the tonal quality of a fine wooden fife, the Plastic
Bb Fife is the unqualified best for a student because it requires no maintenance,
although a bit of occasional swabbing will help. They are also very inexpensive.

In
maintaining a fife, our concerns are threefold:

1.
Dimensional stability - When a quality fife is properly made, the wood is cut
to size and air-dried until it has attained the proper density for turning and
boring. The cocobolo or grenadilla wood in a Model F
is aged for years. If it were quickly kiln-dried like lumber, stresses might later
develop in its structure after the fife was made. Finger holes of the proper size
and position are created and, if a properly made fife is maintained with the same
dimensions throughout its lifetime, it should perform flawlessly for a century
or longer. The bore of the Model F is burnished by a
special process, leaving it impenetrable to water, but treating it with a good
oil will certainly do no harm. To protect the bore of other fifes may require
the application of high quality bore oil internally and wax externally. If the
density of the wood changes from when it was fabricated, the dimensions of the
instrument can change over time in a number of ways: it can shorten, warp, split,
or suffer bore surface damage. Even the finger hole size, shape, and location
can vary.

2. Smoothness of the bore - Water
is the enemy of any woodwind, from a piccolo to a oboe. When an unprotected wood
surface gets wet, the grain rises, creating eddy currents in the airstream, detracting
from the tonal quality. This is also prevented in the Model
F, because of burnishing. Food particulate matter can sometimes accumulate
in the bore, creating a similar problem. Destructive agents will accumulate wherever
water collects, and an even distribution of oil prevents the pooling of water.

3.
External appearance -Human saliva contains many enzymes. Their
principal function is the early-stage digestion of various sugars, fats, and other
foodstuffs. Byproducts of this process are a stew of peroxides and acids. If you
look at the area surrounding the blowhole of your instrument, you may see a discoloration
taking place. This very same etching is taking place inside the bore of the instrument!
This is caused by the effects of the peroxides and acids. Skin oils can also get
into the finish of the wood over time. I have a cocobolo fife that now looks like
ebony because of this. It is a shame to have lost the original color and patina
in this way. I know of no method to bring it back, except sanding and refinishing.
Maybe not even then! A proper wax will protect it.

Maintenance
is not a chore. Oiling of most fifes should be necessary no more than four
times per year; the Model F, twice. They should be waxed
when required. No amount of maintenance will repair a poorly made fife. If
the wood was not aged properly, it was made from a soft or oily wood, or bored
and turned just when the wood came off the boat, no amount of oil can turn it
into a good instrument. It might have been doomed to play poorly and eventually
crack on the day it was made. Some will survive no matter how roughly they are
treated, subjected to sudden temperature changes, extremes of humidity or other
environmental stresses. Some could go either way! It is especially with
the latter that maintenance can make a big difference. When oiling the bore, just
a few drops should be used and the fife should be be made to stand on end (blow
hole up) to "rest" for a few hours, or preferably overnight.

Our
goal in extending the service lifetime and tonal quality of an instrument is one
of cleanliness and protection from water and salivary enzymes.

Many
years ago, I created a system that I use personally and it has served me well.
It consists of two wooden swabs, one for cleaning and one for oiling, complete
with a soft vinyl case to contain any residual oil. (Never insert something made
from metal in a wooden instrument!) The oiling swab has a pad of soft polymer
for the even application of oil. The scrubbing swab should not be used
routinely...maybe never! It has a polymer pad that is a bit rougher in texture,
but it still cannot scratch the bore. However, it is to be used in only the very
worst cases as sometime occur in very old fifes. It is used to remove the most
stubborn materials that may have become lodged and dried inside the the bore of
the fife. For example, a friend of mine purchased an Civil War era Cloos fife
that had a coating of dried fungus in the bore. No amount of swabbing would remove
it. Scrubbing cleaned it effectively. The swabs are stored in a leather-like vinyl
case equipped with a polyethyelene oil-proof liner.To
learn more about the qualities of the bore oil and wax, click on their photographs.

I have also included the finest bore oil that exists today,
Bore Doctor and
the very best microcrystalline wax available anywhere: Doctor's
Woodwind Wax.
You will receive 15 ml of bore oil and 5 gm. of wax. The kit costs $25.95 complete,
plus shipping. Bore Doctor and Doctor's Woodwind Wax are also available separately.
See the order page.